The Secret History of Christmas Baking

With equal parts sugar, spice, humor, and heart, Linda Raedisch takes us on an a rollicking adventure through the surprising (and at times surprisingly dark!) histories behind our favorite holiday treats (and ones we'd never heard of but now can't wait to try!), then lays out easy-to-follow steps to make and decorate them. Inventive, captivating, and so very smart. I learned a TON from this book, which will no doubt become a staple of the Scholarly Cookbook genre (and if that's not a thing, it is now!). Truly the best kind of gift, Christmas or other. --Wendy Mass, author of the New York Times bestselling novel, The Candymakers The Secret History of Christmas Baking is many things: a compendium of (sometimes strange) culinary delights, a personal remembrance of family traditions, and a whirlwind tour of the sometimes sinister, occasionally tragic, and always colorful backstories of ingredients, recipes, methods, and madnesses that flavor our most beloved holiday treats. Linda Raedisch tempers a historian's eye with wry humor and reverence. This book is a must-read for any baker, marzipan enthusiast, or kitchen witch. --Caren Gussoff Sumption, contributing writer for Krampusnacht: Twelve Nights of Krampus As an author and historian I was delighted to find that this work is much more than a cookbook. Linda Raedisch gives us a unique historical narrative and along with each recipe fascinating details that provide insights of how each dish is related to...times long past. --Robert A. Mayers, author of Searching for Yankee Doodle If Mrs. Beaton, Hildegard, and The Two Fat Ladies got together with a medieval monk and had a love child, it would be The Secret History of Christmas Baking. Linda Raedisch has made me rethink my aversion to fruit cake. Oh, and it's peppered with crafts for when you can't face down one more cookie. I am insanely jealous that I did not write this book. --Natalie Zaman, award-winning author of Magical Destinations of the Northeast and Color and Conjure